Conservative Latino leaders bristled in response to Nevada Sen. Harry Reid’s statement that he could not understand why Hispanic Americans support Republicans, calling him “intellectually bankrupt” and “out of touch.” “I don’t know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican, okay?” Reid said during a campaign event in Las Vegas Tuesday. “Do I need to say more?” Mario Lopez, president of the right-leaning Hispanic Leadership Fund, told The Daily Caller he thinks Reid is in no place to scold Hispanics on their party preferences. “It’s the height of arrogance for Harry Reid to anoint himself as some sort...

Yesterday, Harry Reid said: "I don't know how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican." This morning, Republican Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban exiles, told Fox News that Reid's comments are "outrageous." Watch Rubio here: "It's outrageous. It's ridiculous," Rubio said of Reid's comments. "You know, Americans of Hispanic descent, you know the strongest issue there is? That is economic empowerment--upward mobility. My parents worked every single day to work to give me and my siblings opportunities that they didn't have.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's once solid support among Hispanics is showing a few cracks, a troubling sign for Democrats desperate to get this critical constituency excited about helping the party hold onto Congress this fall. .... For a group that supported Obama so heavily in 2008 and in his first year in office, only 43 percent of Hispanics surveyed said Obama is adequately addressing their needs, with the economy a major concern. Another 32 percent were on the fence, while 21 percent said he'd done a poor job.

For a group that supported Obama so heavily in 2008 and in his first year in office, only 43 percent of Hispanics surveyed said Obama is adequately addressing their needs, with the economy a major concern. Another 32 percent were on the fence, while 21 percent said he'd done a poor job.

Hispanic Voters Drift From GOP By MIRIAM JORDAN LOS ANGELES — California Hispanics who registered to vote since the last midterm election are less likely to be Republican than those who registered just four years earlier, according to an analysis of party affiliation released Friday. The report by the nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, or Naleo, also shows Hispanics—the fastest-growing voter bloc—are increasingly prone to register as independent, mirroring the trend among all voters. Among California Latinos who registered between the 2002 and 2006 midterm elections, 23% were Republican, 50% were Democrats and 23% declined to...

In their attempt to scare Republicans into supporting amnesty for illegal aliens, the Democrat controlled media and the Democrat controlling SEIU have declared, “Latino voters will be a force in the next election.” The implication is that the boogyman will “get” the GOP if Republicans don’t kowtow and go along with efforts to give illegal aliens amnesty and register them as new Democrat voters. the numbers As currently composed the Hispanic vote is actually negligible and only important in a limited number of locations. Moreover, in a survey taken immediately after the 2008 election of the 85% of voters expressing...

State Sen. Abel Maldonado, the moderate Santa Maria Republican running for lieutenant governor, opened his speech to party convention delegates Saturday afternoon by acknowledging the discomfort many of them have with him for supporting new taxes, among other votes he has taken. When he walked into the room, he said, a delegate greeted him by saying, "Hey Abel, I think you're with the wrong party." "And I looked at him, and I said, 'I'm not with the wrong party, I'm with the right party. Let me tell you why.' " Maldonado, who spoke after the room had somewhat emptied following...

We are in the ugly situation of being governed by Marxist socialists because of a few groups of voters who turned their back on American freedoms for their own benefit by voting for Obama. Hispanics were one such group. The media constantly touts Hispanics as “conservatives” and thus people real conservatives should kowtow to for fear they would stop supporting Republicans. Those of us that watch politics know calling Hispanics “conservatives” is a lie. Texas GOP Governor Rick Perry has been on the frontline of dealing with these “conservative” Hispanics and his sorry record should serve as a reminder of...

Regardless, Gov. Rick Perry has fared relatively well, perhaps because of his anti-Washington rhetoric and his careful immigration stance, a recent poll indicates. It shows more than half of Texas Hispanics call themselves conservative, and a surprising 23 percent say they might participate in Tuesday's GOP primary. Among those, Perry leads Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison by 2 to 1, according to the poll, commissioned by an Austin consultant for a national group of Hispanic legislative leaders... Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, said the poll hints at a little-noticed facet of Perry's political persona: He doesn't frighten Hispanics...

AUSTIN – A bent to conservatism and family makes Hispanics a promising pool of votes for Republicans, but the party's targeting of illegal immigrants has withered its attraction. Regardless, Gov. Rick Perry has fared relatively well, perhaps because of his anti-Washington rhetoric and his careful immigration stance, a recent poll indicates.

Dr. Manning outlines strategies for attracting blacks and hispanics to the Republican Party and how we can control national political scene for the next 50 years ! Go to the Atlah site and click on the 10/16 Manning RReport show . You can move the player marker to the 12:20 mark and begin to listen to this . It lasts approximately 22 minutes . Please check it out and let everybody know what you think of the Rev's ideas . Thank you .

In the Long Run, the GOP Must Be Inclusive. BY MICHAEL GERSON Mel Martinez's recent resignation from the U.S. Senate was for personal and family reasons. But the departure of the Republican Party's most visible Hispanic leader crackles with political symbolism. Martinez does not consider himself disillusioned, but he is "frustrated." "There are lots of Hispanics to the right of you and me on immigration," he told me, "but they think, 'Republicans just don't like us.' " Martinez makes clear that a number of his Senate colleagues were "conservative, but not inflammatory." Other elected Republicans, however, made "pretty divisive use...

So what did President Obama say to Univisión? It was hard to tell. As I began to watch the interview he gave to Jorge Ramos, I found myself moving closer and closer to the TV, as if I were deciphering a strange language. The premier Spanish network had made the awful choice of dubbing instead of subtitling the interview.It took me back to my childhood, watching Hollywood films on Chilean TV on endless school afternoons—suffering because cowboys, pirates, lawyers and superheroes shared the same toothpaste-commercial voices. Later on, my brother and I turned this nonsense into a game: who could...

by Debra Medina, Republican candidate for Governor of Texas It’s a shame isn’t it, that Republicans continue to ignore Hispanics especially here in Texas? The writing has long been on the wall that unless the GOP begins to better work with Latinos, the GOP will continue to lose races and be a minority party. It is equally important, of course, for the Latino community to realize that true political identity will be achieved only through participation in all national party structures - Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, etc. We are not all the same and we shouldn’t all be attracted to...

During his recent HBO special, "Tall, Dark and Chicano," comedian George Lopez tore a hole in the Big Tent. Incensed that 31 Senate Republicans had voted against Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court, Lopez informed the GOP that it would never again get the votes of Latinos. In fact, he said, given changing demographics, Republicans might as well get used to losing in the years to come because "you won't win a . . . pie-eating contest." That's harsh, but fair. Republicans know not what they did. They're only fooling themselves if they think they won't pay a price...

Olympia Snowe said today that her Republican colleagues' pending "no" votes on Sonia Sotomayor raise "a serious concern" about alienating their Hispanic constituencies. The Maine moderate was among the first GOP lawmakers to say she would vote yes, joining Mel Martinez of Florida and Richard Lugar of Indiana on July 17. Snowe told reporters that voting for Sotomayor "would have certainly been an avenue for appealing to the Hispanic community, where we did poorly in the last election. I think we can ill afford to lose their support in the future when we're attempting to rebuild the Republican Party nationally,"...

Sarah Palin finally came out and made her stance on illegal immigration clear. She is pro amnesty for illegal aliens. In an interview to Univision she stated unequivocally that she is for a pathway to citizenship. In the same interview she says she is against amnesty for illegal aliens. Have your cake and eat it to, I think that is called. Back on the same day that John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential candidate I started investigating Palin's past on illegal immigration. I invited others to send in anything they found. There was nothing on the record. Many...

Here is video today of Sen. Lindsey Graham questioning Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Graham confronted Sotomayor with her quote from numerous speeches in which she said she would hope that a "wise Latina woman would come to a better decision (as a judge) than an average white male." Graham worked the exchange to a high point where he pointedly told Sotomayor that if he, as a white male, had ever said anything even close to what she did, his career would be over. He asked her if she could understand that? She said that she could understand how...

Republicans have been given fair warning: Should GOP senators treat Sonia Sotomayor as contemptuously as Democrats treated Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito, they should expect Hispanic hostility for a generation. The chutzpah of this Beltway crowd does not cease to amaze.

Please view the link below; enter a birth date and watch Anthem V1 & V2. http://cervezatecate.com/ Why in the HELL is the RNC not all over this demographic with commercials like this. Hispanics/Mexicans, whomever are ardent conservatives and the RNC has not reached them. These ads run during Friday Night Fights on ESPN. Large waves of southern immigration are changing our politics, and most Republicans believe the most effective way to reach them- which we know doesn't work- is to reward lawbreakers with citizenship and hope for the best. And please don't call us racists or we're gonna cry and...

It’s invasive. It’s corrupt. It’s rigged. It’s unconstitutional. Its purpose is the legislative transformation of the United States of America into a land where conservatives, Christians, and Calcasians will become political castrados. It is biased and prejudicial. It serves to channel billions of dollars into bogus political action groups, such as ACORN. It promotes gay rights and same-sex marriages. It is a document that was not something drafted by the Berkley chapter of the Barbra Streisand Fan Club or the Alec Baldwin wing of the American Civil Liberties Union. It is President Barack Obama’s 2010 Census Form. The form asks...

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama said Friday that he wants to push comprehensive immigration reform through Congress before he leaves office, but he didn't elaborate on a timeframe for the politically thorny endeavor. "I'm committed to passing comprehensive immigration reform as president of the United States," Mr. Obama said at the Esperanza National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast in Washington. "The American people believe in immigration." ... Mr. Obama said the U.S. needs to build on efforts to strengthen border security, and clarify the status of people who have put down roots illegally. "We can't tolerate a situation where people come to...

Why does everyone insist on the GOP reaching out to Hispanic and black voters? Sure, non Hispanic whites will be the minority in the U.S. (though by far the LARGEST minority) in the 2040-2050 time frame. But there are a lot of presidential elections between now and then. If the GOP increased its take of white votes from 58% (2004) or 55% (2008) to 70% or better, then it could win virtually any election with little minority support. And why as so many claim would it be racist? Is it racist when 94% of black voters vote for the Democratic...

After four decades of Republican control, the New York State Senate's Democrats scored a coup in January, finally securing the chamber. Five months later, they may have lost it after a riotous affair went down this afternoon, with two Democrats abandoning their party to join hands with Republicans — who promptly demanded a new roll call vote to find new leadership and oust Majority Leader Malcolm Smith. What's this mean for the fractious effort to beat the legislative session's ticking clock to pass same-sex marriage legislation? In a stunning turn of events, Sens. Pedro Espada Jr. of the Bronx and...

A conservative and controversial Evangelical Hispanic group today officially endorsed the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court -- an indication that many right-leaning Hispanics are breaking ranks with other mainstream Republicans on the issue. Called the National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, the group is made up of 20,000 Evangelical Hispanic churches, and is best known for its controversial call for illegal immigrants to boycott the 2010 Census. On the group's blog, the leader of the group, Rev. Miguel Rivera, credited Sotomayor for being a " measured jurist with bedrock family values." "She is not...

Republican senators on Sunday avoided joining those in the party using racially charged criticism against President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, underscoring the party's challenge in opposing the first Hispanic to be chosen for the nation's highest bench. Appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor already faces scrutiny from conservative commentators and former officials over a 2001 remark that her experiences as a Latina would lead her to better decisions than a white man. Talk-show host Rush Limbaugh has called her a "racist" while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, saying a "Latina woman racist" is unsuitable for the court, has called for...

Like so many special interest groups, La Raza (‘the race’ in English ) purports to speak for “Latinos” wherever they may be… and nowadays, they’re just about everywhere. And why NOT everywhere? Latinos (short version: a person of Latin-American or Spanish-speaking descent) have been part and parcel of American Culture from our earliest times. So it should be no surprise that a person of Latin-American or Spanish speaking descent -- Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Puerto Rico) -- should have been nominated by President Obama to sit on the Supreme court of the united States. But one could ask why, specifically, was...

President Obama’s selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for a seat on the Supreme Court has put the Republican Party in a bind, forcing it to weigh the cost of aggressively opposing the first Hispanic named to the court against its struggle to appeal to Hispanic voters. The Republican Party has been embroiled in a public argument over whether to tend to the ideological interests of its conservative base or to expand its appeal to a wider variety of voters to regain its strength after the defeats of 2008. Many conservative activists and political strategists came out fiercely against Judge Sotomayor...

At Daily Kos, there is a blog today on how to repeal Prop 8 in the future. LINK BELOW. Keep black and Hispanic turnout low, and counter Mormon Money... The title of the blog is "To Repeal Prop 8, Keep Black and Hispanic Turnout Low, And Counter Mormon Money." Does this sound to you like libs/Dems cherish black and hispanic votes? Does this sound to you like libs/Dems are against suppressing the minority vote? Don't libs/Dems want every vote to count? Could it be that libs/Dems only care about advancing liberalism and socialism and really don't care what they have...

Those old Republican hot buttons are growing cold. For proof, check out a recent interview with Mitt Romney, a former presidential candidate and ex-governor of Massachusetts. According to TheHill.com, a congressional newspaper that publishes when Congress is in session, ''Romney believes that one way to attract more minorities to the GOP is to pass immigration reform before the next election, saying the issue becomes demagogued by both parties on the campaign trail.'' The article also quotes Romney as saying, ``We have a natural affinity with Hispanic-American voters, Asian-American voters.''

Maybe John McCain has learned something from his election loss, like it doesn't pay to be a R.I.N.O.. According to a report in the National Journal that was precisely the message McCain gave a Hispanic leaders when they complained about Obama's lack of movement on immigration issues During the ramp-up to the 2008 election, McCain became the symbol of a weak immigration policy as he sponsored a plan which included amnesty for illegal aliens. McCain's reward for alienating his Republican base was a 2-to-1 Hispanic support for his opponent during the presidential vote.

In his continuing media blitz, President Obama used a popular Spanish-language music awards show tonight to reach out to Hispanics. "Buenas noches. I want to thank the millions of you who voted for tonight’s winners, and I also want to thank all of you who voted in that other election back in November – even if it wasn’t for me," he said in a pre-recorded message that aired during Univision’s live coverage of the “Premio Lo Nuestro” Latin music awards from Miami’s BankUnited Center.

Today conservatism is stigmatized in our culture as an antiminority political philosophy. In certain quarters, conservatism is simply racism by another name. And minorities who openly identify themselves as conservatives are still novelties, fish out of water. Yet there is now the feeling that without an appeal to minorities, conservatism is at risk of marginalization. The recent election revealed a Republican Party -- largely white, male and Southern -- seemingly on its way to becoming a "regional" party. Still, an appeal targeted just at minorities -- reeking as it surely would of identity politics -- is anathema to most conservatives....

The election of 2008 proved catastrophic for opponents of comprehensive immigration reform. Republicans lost seven Senate seats -- eight if the courts sustain Al Franken's lead in Minnesota. On June 28, 2007, each of the eight previous office-holders (Republicans, all) voted to block the Bush administration's immigration bill. Replacing these eight immigration hardliners are five new senators clearly favorable to a comprehensive approach -- six, counting Franken -- and two whose positions are unclear. All, of course, are Democrats. In the House, comprehensive immigration reformers picked up at least 14 votes, and "enforcement-only" advocates lost 14. Ten incumbent members of...

A new president takes office on Tuesday. It is time to ask for favors, to settle debts accrued during the campaign season. Latinos, who make up 9 percent of the national electorate, lent their support overwhelmingly to President-elect Barack Obama, voting for him at a rate of 2 to 1 over his Republican rival, Senator John McCain. [snip] Simon Rosenberg, president and founder of the New Democratic Network, a progressive think tank, said that the Latino vote is now too important to be ignored and that might help speed things up in Congress, especially as congressional district lines will be...

A former INS official who attended meetings with Rahm Emanuel when Emanuel was a White House aide says the hard-charging Democrat relaxed rules to naturalize even criminal immigrants and secure their votes for President Clinton ahead of the 1996 presidential election . President-elect Barack Obama, who has chosen Emanuel to run White House operations as his chief of staff, has promised to sign legislation that loosens immigration and puts even illegal aliens on a fast track to citizenship . Emanuel coordinated with Hispanic community organizers in Chicago to rubberstamp immigrants for citizenship, the INS official said in an exclusive interview...

A former INS official who attended meetings with Rahm Emanuel when Emanuel was a White House aide says the hard-charging Democrat relaxed rules to naturalize even criminal immigrants and secure their votes for President Clinton ahead of the 1996 presidential election. President-elect Barack Obama, who has chosen Emanuel to run White House operations as his chief of staff, has promised to sign legislation that loosens immigration and puts even illegal aliens on a fast track to citizenship. Emanuel coordinated with Hispanic community organizers in Chicago to rubberstamp immigrants for citizenship, the INS official said in an exclusive interview with WND....

I just got a press release from a liberal pressure group called America's Voice headlined "Anti-Immigration Ads Don't Add Up in 2008." The group tried to make the same point that I've heard over and over again from amnesty advocates: The voters won't go for candidates who support immigration restrictions. "A new analysis of immigration advertisements finds that the strategy of using immigration as a political wedge issue in the 2008 election cycle was an utter failure," the release stated. Nonsense. What the voters won't go for is candidates who try to work both sides of the issue, such John...

Members of the cultural right have called Juan Hernandez a "border obliteration activist," an "American traitor," and an "agent of the Mexican government." John McCain's presidential campaign called him something different: director of Hispanic outreach. For 14 months leading up to the election, the Fort Worth, Texas, native was a high-level volunteer at McCain '08 headquarters, where he attended daily senior staff meetings and advised the Arizona senator and his top lieutenants about how to appeal to Hispanic voters. Part of that strategy was highlighting McCain's record of championing comprehensive immigration reform. Meanwhile, down the hall, another portion of the...

President-elect Barack Obama continued rounding out his White House staff today, naming Jonathan Favreau director of speechwriting and Cecilia Munoz director of intergovernmental affairs. -snip_ Munoz, meanwhile, will oversee the White House office responsible for relations between the administration and state and local governments. The 2000 MacArthur Foundation "genius grant" winner is a senior vice president at the National Council of La Raza, a leading Hispanic civil rights group. There, she has spearheaded many of the organization's immigration initiatives. Currently, she is in charge of the group's entire advocacy and legislative agenda. "We're continuing to build a White House team...

If there is one message President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team has broadcast about Cabinet picks, it is that ethnicity and gender will not be the first considerations when filling the slots. Credentials over tokenism, after all, was a fundamental principle of Obama’s presidential campaign that highlighted his ideas and community values over his African-American background. Still, if all goes as planned, Cabinet members with hefty résumés will present a picture of diversity. Hispanic political leaders agree. Their expectations for seats at the president’s top policy table are not about meeting quotas but about advancing the reality that within this fastest-growing...

For eight years of Clinton, then eight years of Bush, Carlos Ortiz has waited. With the election of Obama, Ortiz hopes -- trusts -- he will have to wait no more to see his dream realized: the first Hispanic Supreme Court justice. "What more unifying appointment could there be than a Hispanic justice?" asks Ortiz, who began his campaign in 1987 as a board member, then as president, of the Hispanic National Bar Association and later as chair of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. "It's not just the right thing to do, but we deserve it. I...

Republicans need to re-brand their party and convince Hispanics they’re welcome. If they believe their ideas on education, economics, defense, trade, foreign policy, and other issues are superior, let them make that case to Hispanics. That doesn’t mean ditching their core principles, but it might mean changing their tone. It doesn’t mean alienating core voters, but it does means being more inclusive. And it doesn’t mean giving up the party’s opposition to illegal immigration. Polling suggests that Hispanics will go along with enforcement measures that seem reasonable such as increasing the number of border patrol agents and giving them resources....

The Lone Star State is the last big GOP bastion where Hispanics are a sizable voting bloc. Houston When President Bush says so long to Washington on Jan. 20, he’ll return to a much different Lone Star State from the one he left eight years ago. Pickup trucks, Big Oil, and barbecue brisket still reign supreme, but this red state that helped deliver the presidency to Mr. Bush twice and his father once, and that catapulted GOP strategist Karl Rove to the national stage, is suddenly spotted with big pockets of blue. Dallas is controlled by Democrats; Houston is in...

One of the lessons from this election is the destruction of the myth that Republicans who support amnesty for illegal aliens would do well among Hispanic voters. No presidential candidate worked harder on illegal immigration amnesty than John McCain. In 2005, he sponsored an amnesty bill that became known as the McCain-Kennedy bill (co-sponsored by Sen. Kennedy). When that bill failed, he tried again the following year, with a variant of the McCain-Kennedy bill. That bill also failed. Unfazed, he tried yet again in 2007. If any one of those bills had passed, at least 10 million illegal aliens would...

Some California Republicans are saying they have found a key to expanding their fast-shrinking base, and it lies in the most glaring aspect of the Proposition 8 election results: the minority vote that went overwhelmingly for it. With seven in 10 blacks and 53 percent of Latinos voting in favor of the ballot measure to ban same-sex marriage, Republicans say they are confident that their common interests with minorities on traditional family and social issues can help forge new political alliances. "It shows there are issues the Republican party and minorities can agree on," said Mike Spence, president of the...

On his first full day as President, Barack Obama will be greeted by salutes, good wishes - and throngs of protesters on the National Mall demanding immigration reform. It will be a thunderous welcome, delivered mostly by Hispanic voters who - having provided a critical edge to Obama on Election Day in several key states - are looking for payback. "We voted in the millions, and now we're going to demand progress in the millions," said Angelica Salas, an organizer of the Jan. 21 protest and director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles. RELATED: LATINO...